Bob Willis and Mike Atherton's forgotten revolution

I found an intriguing cricket document while clearing out the drawers of a departed colleague. Presented like a university thesis, it is bound by a plastic, inexpensive clip and there is not a single photograph on its dozen or so pages. It is nearly 10 years old, and back in November 2003 it caused a bit of a stir.

Entitled, Making English Cricket Great – for Everyone: a Manifesto for Change, it was published by The Cricket Reform Group. Its members were Mike Atherton, Michael Parkinson (presumably he moderated the chat), Bob Willis, his brother David, and Nigel Wray (better known in the rugby world than cricket).

It argued that the counties (and their members) had too much power ('approx 130,000 having a disproportionate say in the running of the game'). It claimed the '15-man management board was too unwieldy', and it said the county schedule was too 'ramshackle', with too many matches, and not enough time for practice and preparation.

It also argued that the £1.3 million per annum handed to each county at the time was too generous, with 'little or no accountability', with insufficient money spent on recreational cricket and not enough cricket played in state schools.Plus ça change.

The county schedule is still a subject for heated debate – is everyone now happy with the model they have settled on this summer?
There is much more money spent on recreational cricket – but that is because of the lucrative deal with Sky (and fans of terrestrial coverage will say that is hardly a price worth paying).

The CRG's plan for the County Championship (three divisions of six, with only 10 four-day matches each) has always been resisted successfully by the counties and their loyal fans.

The 18 counties still rely on funding from the England and Wales Cricket Board. Earlier this year it was reported they received about £40 million between them from the ECB's distribution programme, although this is performance-related now, taking into account factors like how many England-eligible players they field and so on. It was also reported this year that the ECB made an additional £1 million available to each county, which must be spent on capital projects rather than players’ wages. So the counties are still doing pretty well.

The management board is slightly smaller than back then – by one! It now consists of 14 members (up from 12 in May 2010 to accommodate two women directors for the first time).

The most controversial aspect of the report a decade ago demanded that counties should reduce their playing staff to 14 full-time professionals, with 400-500 professionals going down to 276, and the best amateurs from weekend cricket (the Premier Leagues) plugging the gaps. It does strike me that would be too much of a leap for somebody to open the batting for Malden Wanderers on a Saturday to suddenly face Graham Onions and Durham's attack on the Tuesday…

Squads have shrunk because of the straitened times we live in, but nowhere near to this extent – and 'hooray for that' say the 200 or so professionals still hanging on – but there is a salary cap.

The CRG report came out after another miserable Ashes campaign in Australia in 2002-03 (Michael Vaughan's centuries aside).
Vaughan became captain in the summer of 2003, though, England's fortunes improved, and the report was swiftly forgotten.

In 2004, England defeated the West Indies away for the first time since 1968 (Harmy the destroyer!), and then won all seven Tests against New Zealand and the West Indies at home. That winter Vaughan then led them to a commendable win in South Africa, and in 2005 there was the unforgettable, and long-awaited, Ashes triumph.

Although Vaughan's career stalled because of injuries and the team only progressed in fits and bursts, Andrew Strauss eventually completed the project, and the CRG's target was met – England did become the No1 Test team in 2011.

The fact that England eventually reached the summit without imposing the CRG's drastic proposals will vindicate the 'evolution, not revolution' approach of ECB chairman Giles Clarke. He has been a fearsome protector of (all 18) first-class counties.

England's resurgence took the wind out of the CRG's sails, although they may argue their points are still valid; that if their suggestions had been implemented, the national team could have been better, and even more consistent. A classic case of 'what if'.